NORWAY Law and Practice Contributed by: Sicilie Tveøy, Lars Christensen, Ramborg Elvebakk and Karen Margrethe Bugge, Advokatfirmaet Hjort AS
capped at four times the basic amount (4G), if there are children, through a will. The law allows flexibility to enter into agreements between parents and children. It is possible to seek advance consent from the heirs to give them less than their forced share. Adult children can consent to reduce their compulsory portion, but this must typically be done through a formal and informed pro - cess, often not easily obtained. Also, after death, heirs entitled to forced shares can voluntarily agree among themselves to alter the distribution (eg, one child may waive part of their reserved share in favour of a surviv - ing spouse or sibling). Norway has a special rule called uskifte , whereby the estate continues to be undivided until the longest liv - ing of the spouses passes. Uskifte applies to mar - ried couples with common children. It means that the surviving spouse can keep all assets until they later die. This also means that the inheritance will not be distributed to the children until the surviving spouse dies. Uskifte does not apply to children born outside the marriage, meaning they will receive their inherit - ance when their parent dies. The right to uskifte can be taken away by writing a will. For couples, it is relevant that the surviving spouse might move from Norway – to the best of the authors’ knowledge, uskifte is not acknowledged in other countries. 2.4 Marital Property Norway’s default marital property regime is a form of community property ( felleseie ), but with an exception that has significant practical importance. By default, all assets owned by either spouse become part of the marital estate ( felleseie ) upon marriage. This is, as said, just a starting point, as all values brought into the marriage can be held outside the division if the spouse, at death or divorce, can document that the value of the assets at the cut-off date are the same value as those assets brought into the marriage ( skje- vdeling ). In addition, assets that are separate property ( særeie ) by agreement or received as a gift/inheritance under the condition of særeie , are also excluded from the marital estate ( felleseie ).
It is important to note under Norwegian law that each spouse owns and controls their own property, but at divorce or death, the value of the community property is split 50/50 between spouses. If the couple desires another arrangement than the default, they can enter into a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement ( ektepakt ) and decide that certain assets are separate property either in full or in part. These agreements are valid if the formal requirements (writ - ten and signed with witnesses) are met when the agreement is made. The court might set aside a mari - tal agreement; however, this is seldomly done. Community property does not mean that the property is jointly owned. Whether a property is jointly owned is based on how the property was acquired. Ownership might be determined based on whether it was a gift to one or both spouses, ownership might be based on an agreement between the spouses, or the last, based on the financing of the property. While spouses in Norway can generally manage their own property, the law places strict limits on the ability to transfer or encumber the family home or household assets without mutual agreement, reflecting a strong legal protection of the family’s living environment. Prenuptial/postnuptial agreements are most common among high net worth individuals and are becoming more common now than before, due to the increased net worth of individuals in Norway. Business owners should regularly consider making agreements with separate property, to secure the business values in case of divorce or death. In Norway, the division of assets between spouses upon death is determined either by the default rules of the Marriage Act or by a marriage agreement. Succes - sion planning therefore involves assessing whether the statutory regime is sufficient or if a marriage con - tract is needed, followed by the preparation of wills. It is important to consider how both the marriage agree - ment and wills will affect the surviving spouse’s finan - cial situation, as both documents together determine the final distribution of assets after the first spouse’s death.
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